title: Profiling of childhood adversity-associated DNA methylation changes in alcoholic patients and healthy controls.
abstract: The increased vulnerability to alcohol dependence (AD) seen in individuals with childhood adversity (CA) may result in part from CA-induced epigenetic changes. To examine CA-associated DNA methylation changes in AD patients, we examined peripheral blood DNA methylation levels of 384 CpGs in promoter regions of 82 candidate genes in 279 African Americans [AAs; 88 with CA (70.5% with AD) and 191 without CA (38.2% with AD)] and 239 European Americans [EAs; 61 with CA (86.9% with AD) and 178 without CA (46.6% with AD)] using Illumina GoldenGate Methylation Array assays. The effect of CA on methylation of individual CpGs and overall methylation in promoter regions of genes was evaluated using a linear regression analysis (with consideration of sex, age, and ancestry proportion of subjects) and a principal components-based analysis, respectively. In EAs, hypermethylation of 10 CpGs in seven genes (ALDH1A1, CART, CHRNA5, HTR1B, OPRL1, PENK, and RGS19) were cross validated in AD patients and healthy controls who were exposed to CA. P values of two CpGs survived Bonferroni correction when all EA samples were analyzed together to increase statistical power [CHRNA5_cg17108064: P(adjust) = 2.54×10(-5); HTR1B_cg06031989: P(adjust)  = 8.98×10(-5)]. Moreover, overall methylation levels in the promoter regions of three genes (ALDH1A1, OPRL1 and RGS19) were elevated in both EA case and control subjects who were exposed to CA. However, in AAs, CA-associated DNA methylation changes in AD patients were not validated in healthy controls. Our findings suggest that CA could induce population-specific methylation alterations in the promoter regions of specific genes, thus leading to changes in gene transcription and an increased risk for AD and other disorders.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, United States of America. huiping.zhang@yale.edu
authors.forename: Huiping
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Fan
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Henry R
authors.initials: HR
authors.lastname: Kranzler
authors.forename: Hongyu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Joel
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gelernter
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000235:genetics*; D000444:Aldehyde Dehydrogenase / Q000235:genetics*; D000080924:Aldehyde Dehydrogenase 1 Family; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002649:Child Abuse; D018899:CpG Islands; D019175:DNA Methylation; D044127:Epigenesis, Genetic; D005260:Female; D056726:Genetic Association Studies; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D020710:RGS Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D011978:Receptors, Nicotinic / Q000235:genetics; D011957:Receptors, Opioid / Q000235:genetics*; D050697:Retinal Dehydrogenase; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D014158:Transcription, Genetic; D044465:White People; D055815:Young Adult; D000094942:Nociceptin Receptor
chemical_list: C447158:CHRNA5 protein, human; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D020710:RGS Proteins; D011978:Receptors, Nicotinic; D011957:Receptors, Opioid; C097187:regulator of G-protein signalling 19; D000080924:Aldehyde Dehydrogenase 1 Family; D000444:Aldehyde Dehydrogenase; C510223:ALDH1A1 protein, human; D050697:Retinal Dehydrogenase; D000094942:Nociceptin Receptor; C000722283:OPRL1 protein, human